Borrowed Hearts traces the development of Rick DeMarinis's incantatory voice, including newer work as well as stories selected from his three previous, highly acclaimed collections: Under Wheat (1986), the winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for short fiction; The Coming of the Free World, a New York Times Notable Book (1988)

and The Voice of America (1991). The title story was included in 1991's The Best Stories of the South, and "Your Story" was played on National Public Radio's Selected Shorts.